In his first-ever action against high-level competition on Friday night, Kansas quarterback Isaiah Marshall had a bumpy first half, but his early mistakes didn’t put the Jayhawks in too big of a hole.
Strong run defense and two early blocked field goals, one returned for a touchdown, helped KU enter halftime tied with Missouri, with plenty of time remaining to secure a rivalry win.
But when Marshall turned the ball over on each of the Jayhawks’ first two offensive plays of the third quarter — once on a fumble and once on an interception, each forced by linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr. — it extinguished KU’s hope in a hurry.
The Tigers scored two touchdowns in less than a minute and went on to a 38-21 victory at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
Running back Jamal Roberts racked up 125 yards and a touchdown for Missouri, but the Jayhawks actually contained him for most of the game. They had much less success against quarterback Austin Simmons, who threw for 292 yards and three scores, with almost all of his yardage coming on quick passes to Cayden Lee and Donovan Olugbode.
Marshall did not totally struggle, as he threw a pair of touchdowns. But he finished 13-for-30 for 168 yards and carried the ball 20 times for 23 yards, and KU did not have much of a run game to speak of otherwise.
KU coach Lance Leipold fell to 0-7 in rivalry games thus far in his tenure, as Missouri will hold bragging rights in the Border War until at least 2031.
After two early punts, Marshall found an uncovered Nik McMillan for 32 yards, but the drive stalled just across midfield.
Missouri had to start from its own 2-yard line and backed up a yard on a false start. But on third-and-8 from the 4, KU left Olugbode completely uncovered on a curl route, resulting in a 65-yard catch-and-run. The Jayhawks pushed the Tigers back twice, and Corey Gordon came streaking through the line to block Blake Craig’s 44-yard field goal attempt.
Marshall awkwardly spun his way forward for a fourth-and-1 conversion deep in his own territory, then Keaton Kubecka went up for a jump ball that got 21 yards on third-and-9. But he couldn’t wrestle away a 50/50 ball later on the same drive that was intercepted by Jahlil Florence.
In return, Leroy Harris III forced a fumble that was recovered by Taylor Davis. But KU went backwards after a mishandled snap and had to settle for a long field goal attempt from Martin Connington, which hit the left upright.
Missouri at first looked like it was going to make better use of its next trip into enemy territory. Simmons got into a rhythm with 17- and 21-yard completions toCayden Lee. KU looked to have a third-down stop, but Quincy Davis was called for a block below waist on a quarterback scramble.
However, when it came time for the Tigers to attempt another field goal, this time Harris muscled his way through for another block, and Austin Alexander corralled the ball and ran it back 88 yards for the game’s first points. It was his second straight year with a touchdown against Missouri.
KU called a timeout early in the Tigers’ next offensive drive. It didn’t have the desired effect, as Missouri immediately came out and responded with a 64-yard touchdown on a delayed handoff to Roberts.
On another shaky drive for Marshall, he got KU within a yard of a first down near midfield on a scramble, and then converted the fourth down. Edwards took a direct snap for 24 more yards ahead of the two-minute warning, and on the other side of the break Marshall gunned one in to McMillan for a touchdown.
Simmons led an effective two-minute drill against which the Jayhawks did not put up much resistance and tossed a touchdown of his own to Lee with 30 seconds left in the half.
Missouri got the ball after the break and punted immediately, only for Marshall to fumble while plunging up the middle on KU’s first play. Simmons hit Olugbode for an 8-yard touchdown to give the Tigers their first lead of the night.
Woodyard then proceeded to pick off Marshall as he was trying to hit Carson Bruhn up the seam, leading to another score that made it 28-14.
Marshall made a bizarre spinning attempt to throw a pass away that actually went back into the middle of the field, where Bruhn caught it for a 16-yard gain. After Marshall converted a fourth down on a sneak, he caught a pass from backup Cole Ballard on a trick play, which combined with a personal foul moved KU well into Missouri territory. Marshall lobbed a throw to Nahzae Cox for his second passing touchdown of the game.
The lengthy drive did little to curb Simmons’ rhythm. A 26-yard connection with Lee concluded the third quarter with the Tigers at KU’s 26-yard line and set up an eventual field goal for Craig.
A pair of holding penalties derailed the Jayhawks’ attempt to respond and forced them into an untenable third-and-33, where Marshall threw incomplete on a short pass to Tate Nagy and KU had to punt.
A strip-sack on Marshall with 3:24 to go set up a fourth-and-9 touchdown pass from Simmons to Brett Norfleet to set the final score at 38-21.
KU fell to 1-1 and will face Arizona State in London for the Union Jack Classic at 11 a.m. Central time on Saturday.
Notes and observations
KU linebacker Bam Crouch missed the game due to a shoulder injury suffered against Long Island and was replaced by Quincy Davis.
Cam Pickett did not start at wide receiver for the Jayhawks, as Kubecka and Nagy came out alongside McMillan, although he did appear on the opening drive.
On the play where he took a late hit after throwing to Marshall on a trick play, Ballard suffered an apparent shoulder injury and went to the locker room. He returned to the bench later in the game with his uniform off and his right arm in a sling.
How they scored
Second quarter
7:16 — Austin Alexander 88-yard blocked field goal return. Martin Connington PAT good. KU 7, MU 0.
5:22 — Jamal Roberts 64-yard run. Blake Craig PAT good. Four plays, 75 yards, 1:54 TOP. KU 7, MU 7.
1:48 — Nik McMillan 20-yard pass from Isaiah Marshall. Connington PAT good. Ten plays, 75 yards, 3:34 TOP. KU 14, MU 7.
0:30 — Cayden Lee 27-yard pass from Austin Simmons. Craig PAT good. Seven plays, 75 yards, 1:28 TOP. KU 14, MU 14.
Third quarter
11:40 — Donovan Olugbode 8-yard pass from Simmons. Craig PAT good. Five plays, 34 yards, 2:05 TOP. MU 21, KU 14.
10:52 — Xai’Shaun Edwards 10-yard run. Craig PAT good. Two plays, 12 yards, 0:36 TOP. MU 28, KU 14.
2:07 — Nahzae Cox 10-yard pass from Marshall. Connington PAT good. Eleven plays, 83 yards, 5:38 TOP. MU 28, KU 21.
Fourth quarter
11:46 — Craig 32-yard field goal good. Ten plays, 61 yards, 5:21 TOP. MU 31, KU 21.
2:02 — Brett Norfleet 13-yard pass from Simmons. Craig PAT good. Four plays, 14 yards, 1:22 TOP. MU 38, KU 21.
